Just curious... How much land do you have for your chickens to roam on? To those that keep them in an enclosed pen/coop, how often do you get them out? If your chickens are free range, do they stay on your property? Do you keep your chickens wings clipped? We have almost an acre (most of it in the backyard because our front yard is tiny). Our chickens are kept in a pen/coop that we built that is probably 6 foot long, 4 foot wide. We let them out daily for about an hour to roam in the yard (they love to eat all the weeds!). I ask these questions because most of our yard is fenced in with the exception of across the creek in our backyard where the chickens are currently housed. The fence we have is 4 foot tall. Would the chickens be able to fly over that? I keep their wings clipped. I also worry about the next door neighbors cat jumping over the fence (although, it's NEVER done that).
We only have a 50' x 50' backyard. In the summer the girls get out pretty much everyday for an hour or so. Can't let them out by themselves (foxes,hawks, cats & such). During the winter they don't get out as much since it is getting dark when we get home...
I only had a 4 foot high fence around my ranging area, last summer. They have about a 1/2 acre fenced in. By the end of the summer, they were getting over that fence with no problem- the grass was greener on the other side! I now have installed a a 6 foot tall fence. We still have snow on the ground, so they haven't been inclined to get over it- I will let you know how this goes in the summer. If your chickens are full grown I wouldn't worry too much about the cat. My two cats wander around in the chicken yard all the time. The birds and cats hardly seem to notice each other. I have occasionally found one of the cats in the coop, sitting on the window sill. No one seemed excited about it... Most people say their chickens will stay about 150 feet from the coop- but I had a few that were very brave and would hop over the fence and walk all the way around to the front and side yards, with no problem. Never a dull moment!
Hi, I was just logging on to ask about this. I am a newbie (placing my first chick order in 2 weeks) Could some of you please describe your chicken's bahavior when free ranging. How far do they roam. We have 3 acres but would like to remain in good standing with my neighbors. Thank You.
We have over 5 acres, however, recently we perimeter fenced just over 2 acres that surround the house and the outbuildings. Till then, the approx 50 chickens freeranged over that whole area, and when we were gone for part of the day, they stayed in their 20x22' pen. At the beginning of the year, we took down the original pens and placed them in a much larger area behind the coops with over 50 sf per bird roaming room. Before perimeter fencing the 2 acres, I had some girls who roamed off the property quite a bit, though I was really nervous when they'd go off the homestead and always herded them back. We have too many predators to let them roam that far so Ginger's expeditions, taking her best pals with her, were ended, LOL. They would go as far as maybe 300 ft from the coops. When we have established some grass again, they will be allowed out of the pens on occasion. The new pens encompass a big area that they freerange on anyway.
I have one acre fenced in. My girls are in two separate coops with each coop having a rooster. All totaled, I have about 40 chickens. During the week, while at work, they stay in their yards but when I'm home I alternate days...one coop out one day, the other coop out the next. They stay in the fenced area picking, dusting, resting and returning to the chicken yard for laying or water. It's worked fairly well....no dogs, cats, hawks, etc. My own dogs alert me if there is anything I need to know. The hawks seem interested in the babies only so I keep them in the brooder until they're larger. It works for me and them...fingers crossed!
How much land do you have for your chickens to roam on? - Ours have access to about Five acres They seldom venture more than a couple of hundred feet from their coop. I would say they use about an acre of what they have available. We have 49 chickens. To those that keep them in an enclosed pen/coop, how often do you get them out? - They have a coop and run, but free range almost every day, all day. We lock them up in their run/coop at night. If your chickens are free range, do they stay on your property? - We have 22 acres total and are bordered by National Forest land on three sides, but they never come close to leaving the property. Do you keep your chickens wings clipped? - No. The fenced area outside of their coop has fences that are only 4 1/2 feet tall. the only ones that cross the fence are the banties. They can fit through the field fence. the others can barly get 2 feet off the ground, except for the EEs, which have yet to venture out of the yard.
Quote:5 acres Enclsed 30 x 15 run with an 8x8 coop when we're not home. Too many loose dogs for them to be out when we're not home. They are out summer evening, most weekends. The types definitely are diffferent in their free ranging habits. My orps are the adventure hens and are alllllll over the property on nice days. I've even found them down on the far access road. The wyandottes and cochin are home bodies. I've never seen them more than 100ft from their coop. The dutch banties are also home bodies, I don't think they like the open pasture with no cover. Once your birds are grown you won't have to worry about cats unless you have really small banties. We have several ferals as well as a neighbor with 12 cats. They hunt rodents in our pasture but never bug the chickens. I have seen my big roo go after one he apparently took offense to.
How much land do you have for your chickens to roam on? My chickens have 10 acres they can roam around on, I have almost 100 chickens. To those that keep them in an enclosed pen/coop, how often do you get them out? They get out every day except in the winter months. They are just now starting to come out of the coop. We still have snow on the ground here. They do have a run, but they jump the fence because it is not inclosed. If your chickens are free range, do they stay on your property? For the most part they stay on our property, however I have a few rebels that do go to the neighbors house. I have to go over and shoosh(?) them back on occasion Do you keep your chickens wings clipped? No I don't clip their wings.
NicInNC - See my answers in bold. 1) How much land do you have for your chickens to roam on? I have 10 acres. Much of it is field and woods, so they have a bout 4 acres to roam on. BTW, I have 11 chickens. 2) To those that keep them in an enclosed pen/coop, how often do you get them out? I live in MN - It's gets really cold here. Even so, I let then out of the coop and into the run on all but the coldest days. They love getting out. even with the snow, I let them out of the run to range a bit even in the winter. If there's any bare ground without snow, they'll entertain themselves scratching on that. I think it's good for them, even if they're not finding bugs. They get pretty bored in the winter, so I do wah tI can to give them things to entertain themselves. 3) If your chickens are free range, do they stay on your property? They really do. I have to shoo them from the front yard down to the back sometimes, but overall, they stay around. I didn't let them out of the coop & run for a while when they were young, so they got a sense of where "home" was. 4) Do you keep your chickens' wings clipped? No, no need for me. My run is compeletly enclosed with hardware cloth. Once they're out ranging, they don't try to fly. At the most, they'll run with their wings out like they're on an aircraft carrier trying to take off. Pretty entertaining. I hope this helps!
